Duodenoesophageal reflux induces esophageal adenocarcinoma without exogenous carcinogen

Central nervous system (CNS) disease is a major feature of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of macaques. To define the spectrum of CNS lesions in SIV-infected macaques and the potential associations with viral strain and disease course, we performed a retrospective analysis of necropsies on 124 macaques with SIV-induced AIDS. Histologic evidence of CNS disease was observed in 71 (57.3%) of the 124 animals. SIV encephalitis was the most common CNS lesion occurring in 43.7% (31/71) of the animals with CNS disease and 25% of all animals. The incidence of SIVE correlated significantly with shortened survival (P=0.0207). In addition, SIVE was seen in 42.9% (15/35) of rapid progressors (animals that died within 200 days) compared to only 18% (16/89) of normal progressors (animals that lived longer than 200 days) (P=0.011). Animals with SIVE had higher viral loads in peripheral blood than those that did not, but this difference did not reach statistical significance. Similarly, while animals infected with uncloned SIVmac251 had a higher incidence of SIVE (27.5%; 14/51) than animals infected with molecularly cloned SIVmac239 and its T-cell tropic derivatives (18.5%; 10/54) this difference was not statistically significant. In this study rapid disease progression and SIVE were highly correlated making separation of viral determinants of virulence from those of neurovirulence difficult.     

E1A second exon requirements for induction of target cell susceptibility to lysis by natural killer cells: implications for the mechanism of action

Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) at a dose of 1 to 300 micrograms/kg/day was administered intravenously to rats daily for 13 weeks. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity increased dose-dependently with leukocytosis. Most of the increased leukocytes were segmented neutrophils, and neutrophil alkaline phosphatase (NAP) scores were elevated markedly. Serum ALP activity correlated very well with the segmented neutrophil counts, and the coefficient of correlation was more than 0.97 in both sexes. Pathological examinations revealed splenomegaly and a marked increase in neutrophils in the red pulp of the spleen. In the spleen, phagocytosis of neutrophils by macrophages was observed. These data indicate that the increased ALP was of neutrophil origin. Serum ALP activity may be increased by the direct release of ALP from the high number of neutrophils into the blood, or by the leakage of ALP into the blood mainly from the spleen where many neutrophils are pooled and destroyed by the macrophage system.     

A preliminary study of parental stress and child behaviour in families with twins conceived by in-vitro fertilization

This paper reports on a preliminary study of parenting quality, parental stress and child behaviour in families with twins conceived by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in comparison with families with naturally conceived twins. No differences were found between the types of family in parenting quality or child behaviour. However, parents whose children were conceived by IVF reported greater stress associated with parenting than parents with naturally conceived twins.     

Microstructural characterization of rapidly solidified nickel-base superalloys

Several Ni-Al-Mo-based eutectic superalloys were rapidly solidified using a chilled block melt spinning process. The effects of rapid solidification on the microstructure were studied using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Results showed, except for the alloy containing chromium, that the microstructure varied as a function of ribbon thickness from segregationless solidification at the wheel side of the ribbon to dendritic solidification at the free side. In addition, alloys with the same solidification rate showed a large variation in microstructure depending upon the solid state cooling rate. The rapidly solidified eutectic Ni-Al-Mo alloy with a small amount of rhenium and vanadium did not show any improvement on delaying or prohibiting the formation of the embrittling-NiMo phase on ageing at 1000 C. This was determined from microstructural as well as chemical analysis using STEM. Differential thermal analysis was used to obtain melting temperature,-Ni₃Al solvus, and heat of formation for the alloys.     

Creativity in non‐routine jobs: The role of transformational leadership and organizational identification

An increasing number of individuals work in jobs with little standardization and repetition, that is, with high levels of job non‐routinization. At the same time, demands for creativity are high, which raises the question of how employees can use job non‐routinization to develop creativity. Acknowledging the importance of social processes for creativity, we propose that transformational leaders raise feelings of organizational identification in followers and that this form of identification then helps individuals to develop creativity in jobs with little routinization. This is because organizational members evaluate and promote those ideas as more creative, which are in line with a shared understanding of creativity within the organization. To investigate these relationships, we calculated a mediated moderation model with 173 leader–follower dyads from China. Results confirm our hypotheses that transformational leadership moderates the relationship between job non‐routinization on employee creativity through organizational identification. We conclude that raising feelings of social identity is a key task for leaders today, especially when working in uncertain and fast developing environments with little repetition and the constant need to develop creative ideas.     

Enterprise architecture,IT effectiveness and the mediating role of IT alignment in US hospitals

Despite the possible benefits of implementing healthcare information technologies, successful implementation of effective healthcare information technology is constrained by cultural and regulatory concerns and technical obstacles encountered when establishing or upgrading an organisation's enterprise infrastructure. In this paper, we advance Ross' four‐stage model of enterprise architecture maturity as a valuable IT resource for helping healthcare organisations sustain a competitive advantage. We use partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling to analyse survey data from 164 US hospitals at different stages of EA maturity. Our results provide evidence that enterprise architecture maturity directly influences the effectiveness of hospitals' IT resources for achieving strategic goals. Further, enterprise architecture maturity indirectly influences the effectiveness of IT resources when IT alignment is incorporated as a mediating variable. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice and suggest opportunities for future research.     

Simulating logic circuits: A multiprocessor application

Circuits, especially logic circuits, are highly concurrent structures: signals flow along many parallel paths at once. This native concurrency, a function of both circuit size and topology, can be exploited in simulating these circuits on parallel machines. Simulation efficiency is affected by machine, language, and simulator implementation parameters like cycle speed, parallelism overhead, and partitioning of the circuit within the simulator, as well as by the amount of native concurrency. The experimental logic simulatorconsim, written in Multilisp and implemented on a 34 element shared-memory multiprocessor, was used to investigate these issues.     

Potassium channels: a computer prediction of structure and selectivity

Model structures for the pore of the potassium channels Shakerand ROMK1 are predicted. The models arise from computer simulationsand suggest reasons for the striking selectivity of these channelsfor K+ and the blocking of ROMK1 by internal Mg²⁺. The modelledstructure of the Shaker pore is supported by mutagenesis data.The mutagenesis experiments indicate the side chains responsiblefor binding to blocking agents [tetraethylammonium (TEA) andcharybdotoxin (CTX)] and the model has these side chains suitablyoriented for binding. An aromatic K+ binding site part way downthe pore is also predicted by the Shaker pore model.     

Studies on the effect of the copper and zinc content in a silica by-product material when used in mortar

Mortars were prepared with an industrial incinerator waste material similar to silica fume as an additive to or a partial replacement for cement to investigate whether the copper and zinc contents present in the waste material had an adverse effect on the compressive strength. When used as a cement replacement, high copper contents (0.69, 0.96, 1.38% by weight of pozzolanic material) were detrimental to the early strength development. Lower copper contents (0.24 and 0.48% by weight of pozzolanic material) did not affect the strength development. When used as an additive to cement in mortar, the copper content of the material did not affect the strength development. Higher compressive strength compared to a control resulted when the material was used as a 10, 15, or 20% additive to cement (based on the percent weight of cement). Conclusions regarding the effect of the zinc content could not be drawn due to the significant copper concentration relative to the concentration of zinc in the waste material.